Farmers of the late 19th century faced several struggles as they attempted to feed themselves and a growing nation. Though they were undeniably crucial to the country, the country often abandoned them to fend against their problems themselves. These desertments lead to the creation of several movements, such as The Grange, and of political parties such as the Populists. The challenges of American farmers were often intertwined and difficult to get to one cause of the problem. Increasing railroad use and inflated prices hurt the farmers tremendously, which then lead to widespread debt and the cry for silver to be used in the money standard, which then resulted in overproduction of goods to try to overcompensate for the burgeoning debt, but only made it worse. In addition, influential in the struggles of the American farmers were the Indians who constantly struggled with the white invaders.
As is displayed in document B, the railroads covered the United States by 1890. The purpose of this document is to show the sprawling of the national railroad service and just how dependent the railroads were of outside influence. In
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The land was tough, and profits were minimal compared to the costs of farming and getting one’s product to mark. Within document D, a landowner tells his audience of sharecroppers that whatever they make essentially half of the profit. Eventually, the debt that begins to loom over all the heads of farmers leads to the creation of the populist party, and a cry for inflation with the silver dollar. Farmers wanted to easily pay off their debts, and the result was the popularity of the silverite William Jennings Bryan. In document G, he speaks to an audience, convincing them not to “crucify mankind on a cross of gold.” His intended purpose was to sway voters into electing him for president, as he was running for election against William